Fury as leader concedes pillar of Palestinian cause

JERUSALEM: President Mahmoud Abbas is facing down a furious response from Palestinians at home and abroad over his decision to give up his right to return to his home town of Safed, from where his family were forced to flee in 1948.

His comments tore at the fabric of one of the most sensitive issues for Palestinians — the right of at least 5 million refugees and internally displaced people to return to their ancestral homes in what is now Israel.

Outrage ... Palestinians in the Jabaliya Refugee Camp, northern Gaza, burn a picture of Mahmoud Abbas in a protest against his comments. Photo: AP

"I am a refugee, but I am living in Ramallah. I believe that the West Bank and Gaza is Palestine. And the other parts is Israel," Mr Abbas said in the interview on Israel's Channel 2 on Friday. "I want to see Safed. It is my right to see it, but not to live there.

"All what we want is to establish an independent Palestinian state on the territories occupied by Israel in 1967 with East Jerusalem as its capital."

Raw history ... a Palestinian boy at a protest in Khan Yunis carries a key, symbolising the homes left by Palestinians in 1948. Photo: AFP

Responding to the widespread condemnation of his comments, Mr Abbas was forced to deny he conceded the right of return for Palestinians, saying he was expressing a personal opinion that did not represent a change in policy.

"President Abbas did not give up the right of return nor did he mean that we don't have a right," Palestinian Authority spokesman Xavier Abu Eid said.

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"He gave his opinion about his individual right ... in other words, though it is his right to return, his choice is to be in the state of Palestine on the 1967 border. Our position on refugees does not imply giving up the right of return but allowing refugees to choose what they want to do." Anger at his comments spilled over into protests in Gaza, where residents of the Jabaliya Refugee Camp burnt posters featuring his image, while criticisms from Palestinians living overseas were scathing..

Hamas condemned his comments, saying anyone who "makes concessions on the right of return should stop representing the Palestinian people".

"All the Palestinians and their leadership assert that the right of return is a right that no one among the Palestinians can delete," Hamas said in a statement.

The Israeli President, Shimon Peres, and former prime minister Ehud Olmert welcomed Mr Abbas's comments, hailing him as a courageous partner for peace.

His "courageous words prove that Israel has a real partner for peace," Mr Peres said in a statement.

"These are significant words ... We must all treat them with the utmost respect." But the Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, was less enthusiastic about the Abbas comments, saying if he was serious about promoting peace he should return to negotiations immediately.

For more than 60 years Palestinians have maintained that those who were forced from their homes following Israel's creation in 1948 – as well as their descendants – have the right to return home.

Israel rejects the idea of a legal "right of return" and says a mass influx of Palestinians would mean the end of Israel as a Jewish state.

Mr Abbas gave the interview as part of his push for Palestine to gain "non-member state" observer status at the United Nations – a move he's expected to make following this week's US election and one that is expected to garner the support of the majority of UN member states.

Israel is opposed to any enhancement of the status of Palestine in the UN, saying the only way to achieve lasting peace is through direct negotiations.

Mr Abbas sought to reassure Israelis that there would not be a return to violence under his leadership. "As long as I sit here, in this position, I will not let there be another intifada," he said. "There will not be a third armed intifada. We will act only in a diplomatic and peaceful manner."